Flying Supports The Fascist State
Posted by Michelle Fire Eater on November 4, 2009
Becky Akers on the Mostly Useless TSA:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/akers/akers112.html
Most/Many cannot afford to stop flying, those who rely on air travel for business. Our culture and economy is in many ways beholden to the ability to get a person from New York to California in 5 hours. Driving is not an adequate substitute for that. Opting not to fly has several perks:
- Not being subject to TSA ineptitude, uselessness, inconvenience and other folly
- Not supporting the bloated State and
- My reason – not supporting the air travel industry’s use of taxpayers to foot their bills by getting government to pay for a service that should be part of their business decisions and costs,
but so many simply don’t have any other choice… unless they decide to make innovation and lifestyle sacrifices part of their political choices. Being annoyed with TSA or flying in general is kind of silly – in the grand scheme, it beats 30 hours cross country in a car and will continue to no matter how annoying the TSA or delays, etc. may be. My beef is supporting fascism, which is all the TSA is. It’s a big waste of taxpayer money, an undue swelling of the state and worst of all, a way private industry has used government intervention to boost their profits. The line for many is the xray scanners, as so many find them absurd and disgusting in a chester-molester kind of way. I don’t even like getting xrays at the dentist, so I appreciate this. But the truth for me, regardless of personal tolerance for incovenience or other discomforts which still pale next to 30 hours in a car, is no longer supporting businesses who use government to secure profits and transfer responsibility. The airline industry has played a direct role in swelling the size and scope of the state. And to them I say, “F*** you.”
That’s very nice, but the question is whether or not I will sacrifice seeing my family in order not to contribute to airline fascism. Hm.
J said
I detest ThousandsStandingAround. IDs are not really needed, though you will automatically get extra screening.
The checkpoints with the super-super-see-through xrays are OPTIONAL. Politely tell them you choose to not go through it. They will do a wand and possibly pat-down.
J said
I thought more about this comment, “… the air travel industry’s use of taxpayers to foot their bills by getting government to pay for a service that should be part of their business decisions and costs …”
I see the “travel industry’s use of taxpayers to foot their bills” as being a symptom of government interference. By providing passenger screening and by outlawing pilot carrying of firearms, the gov’t took over security. Suppose an air carrier wanted extra security and installed $200,000 secure doors to the flight decks. That air carrier would be less profitable, be punished in the equity markets, and possibly lose money and go out of business.
It was the gov’t meddling, including encouraging pilots to talk with hijackers to determine where they wanted to be flown, that created the competitive environment where it was not feasible to invest in extra security.